


Shadow Stories

by AeantizLKamenwati



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassination Attempt(s), F/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 03:29:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4206276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeantizLKamenwati/pseuds/AeantizLKamenwati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An assassination attempt on the Inquisitor and a nosy spirit force Varric to realize something about his relationship with the Inquisitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet, a few chapters unless someone convinces me to do a full story of these two dwarven geeks. 
> 
> I just so happen to be a part of the ship of Varric and Cadash. If that's wrong then I don't want to be right. :) Plus I need to not do an elf, and I need to not do a guy.
> 
> You can find my [concept art](http://nolifequeen1663.deviantart.com/art/DA-I-Inquisitor-Shade-Cadash-Concept-533990177) for Shade on my deviantart account via the link.

Varric’s hand stilled over the paper. How many of these had he written in the past two days? Five? Seven? It felt like a hundred. And each time seemed to get harder. No matter how many times he wrote the phrase: She won’t be coming back, in any form, felt like he was stabbing himself. 

Hawke was dead. Or was probably what with being left in the Fade with some giant fear demon. The dwarf hadn’t been there, so he didn’t fully understand the report. He just knew that his best friend wasn’t going to be around anymore. All because Varric had convinced her to come to Skyhold…no this started long before any of this weird shit had happened. 

It started with the Carta attacking Hawke. Again. Granted Felicity was a brilliant archer and had one of the best guards in Kirkwall: Dane her giant slobbering mabari hound. But these ones also attacked Anders, her lover, which pissed Hawke off royally. After all, she had lost her entire family, she wasn’t going to let anyone take anyone else from her even if only for a ransom. 

Which lead to Varric tracking the bastards to Corypheus’s prison. Which lead to all this shit. 

Varric sighed loudly. If they never went to that place, Corypheus wouldn’t have been walking around. And…His eyes drifted over to the Inquisitor as she made some Ferelden merchants laugh. And then Shade’s life wouldn’t have changed. She’d still be working for the Carta rather than leading an army of the faithful. 

Would Varric have met her if it were not for the Anchor? He wondered not for the first time. She had been at the Conclave after all. And a dwarf would have been hard to miss there. So he supposed he would have met her. But he doubted he would have gotten to know her. 

He might never have known that Shade Cadash had an odd love for exotic things like Dalish-carved statues or Qunari weapons. Or that she loved to climb 

_everything_. Or had a weird love for elfroot and loved cocoa in the morning and evening. 

She would have just been another Carta dwarf. Granted a rather pretty Carta dwarf, but a Carta dwarf nonetheless. 

Varric blinked, catching himself. The last thing this story needed was sappy romance. No, he could already tell how this one was going to end. Unlike Hawke’s, Cadash’s story had no spicy scenes he had to employ Isabella’s dirty and imaginative mind for help with. He just hoped the Inquisitor’s tale had a better ending to it. 

“Hey, Varric.” Came a quiet voice from his side. He snapped himself out of his thoughts to find the Inquisitor in question walking towards him. She was small, even for a dwarf. She could barely look out the windows in her hut at Haven. But that wasn’t what made Shade Shade. It was her rather unique style. 

Pitch black hair that was styled with one bang hanging over the right side of her face while the rest was slicked back and fell around her shoulders. Though she hid the black Casteless brand, she wore the four scars on the left side of her face with pride. It was like she met the claws of a very large and very angry cat. But she never would tell how she got them. 

“What’s up, boss? Time to go kill another dragon?” He quipped as she stopped next to his seat. She shifted uncomfortably for a moment, before shaking her head. Her dwarven earrings twinkled lightly as they swayed back and forth. 

“No. Just seeing how you are holding up.” Her lyrium blue eyes were troubled. Varric didn’t know but the Inquisitor blamed herself for Hawke’s death. If she had been a better leader, then maybe no one would’ve had to die. If she had been stronger, she could’ve taken down that demon…and Varric wouldn’t have lost his friend. 

She hated that knowledge the most. Oh, she knew her feelings were stupid and pointless, but they happened nonetheless. No matter what her head said, her heart wouldn’t listen. Story of her life. 

Varric gave her his best smile. “I’m fine, Jewel. Just writing more letters.” Cadash obviously didn’t believe him. She narrowed her bright lyrium-colored eyes skeptically. Varric did his best to appear nonchalant. 

She sighed, “Well, if you want to talk, I’m here, Varric.” Her eyes were downcast. He noticed not for the first time, how her eyelashes cast shadows on her cheeks. And how the medium blue of her eyeliner made the orange in the middle of her eyes seem to glow. Or was that the fire? Or it could just be because she was in close range. Most people didn’t realize she had a small ring of orange around her pupil. 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, worry about Corypheus assassinating the empress.” 

***** 

Shade quickly searched the Grand Hall for her target. Not that she needed to. He never left that spot unless it was for the tavern, a mission, bedtime, or a meal it seemed. She shifted the pack on her back before walking over to the only other dwarf in the hall. Well there was Gatsi, but she didn’t count him. 

“Hey, Varric, you busy?” She spoke to get his attention. She had the nasty habit of appearing out of nowhere and frightening her companions all to death. Much like Cole. Except her brand of sneakiness came from years of working in the Carta, not being a spirit. 

The deshyer looked over his shoulder at her. “I’ve got a few minutes, why?” He didn’t really trust her smile. She was up to something or he wasn’t handsome. 

“I hope you have more than a few minutes. I want to show you something.” He took note of her attire. A bear leather coat with black wolf fur trimming was over her usual Skyhold attire. Had he never met her, he would have mistaken her for a dwarven merchant or even a deshyer. 

Varric cocked an eyebrow, eyes resting on the pack she had over her shoulder. “Show me what exactly, Jewel?” She snickered. 

“It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you now would it?” Shade beamed at him, one side of her mouth higher than the other because of her scars. He wondered if she knew how if she smiled like that there wasn’t anything anyone wouldn’t give to see it again… 

“Fine you twisted my arm.” He surrendered after a few moments of being battered by the lopsided grin. He heard her make a victory sound while he went to fetch his own coat. Whoever decided Skyhold had to be on top of a frozen mountain was a sadist. 

Cadash was used to freezing her ass off and trekking up Stone forsaken mountains, but Varric was definitely a city dwarf. Skyhold was warm enough inside, but outside was freaking hell. And if the Inquisitor had a coat on, he knew they were going somewhere that was colder than he liked. 

When he returned to the main hall, Cadash grinned hugely at him. “So where are we headed?” 

“You’ll find out.” Shade gave a wicked smirk before motioning for them to begin. They made their way to the stables, where Dennet had the Inquisitor’s beloved Nuggalope that apparently had been trained by the Avvar. She went so far as to call it Salroka. Apparently she had planned this to a tee. Varric chuckled to himself. 

“What would’ve happened if I didn’t agree to come, Jewel?” He snickered. 

Cadash put a finger to her chin like she was thinking. “I’d knock you over the head and drag you out. Or get Bull to at least tie you to my saddle.” She gave her wicked grin again before going up to the giant nug and stroking its nose. The thing was giant compared to her, the saddle so far up that it was nearly comical to watch her mount it on missions. 

Being vertically-impaired himself, Varric always took pity on the petite dwarf. “Kidnapping? You going Carta on us, Cadash?” He walked over to the side and offered his hands to boost her up. Shade smiled sweetly as she placed her boot in his gloves. It wasn’t enough to get her other foot in the saddle, but she was able to pull herself up to do it. 

She quickly buckled her pack to the back of the saddle before leaning down to grab Varric’s arm as he climbed up. It wasn’t unusual for the two dwarves to share a mount. They were both small enough to not bother the mount for the long treks around Thedas, and with two of them, one could sleep while the other drove. Plus less mounts meant more rations for the mounts. And Cadash was very strict about conserving things. 

“Hang on, city dwarf.” She laughed as she turned the nug around towards the gates and kicked it into a fast lope. 

They travelled deeper into the mountains, through twisty trails and treacherous drop offs. Varric was beginning to think she was really going to assassinate him. His previous encounters with Carta members left him cautious. 

Soon though Shade pulled her nug to a stop atop a rocky hill. “We’re here.” He looked around at the desolate environment. 

“And where is here exactly?” Varric asked, dismounting. 

“Quiet is what it is. And just wait, sheesh.” She giggled accepting Varric’s help to get down. Together the set up a make-shift camp. Shade started the fire while Varric set up a little lean-to to keep the wind from freezing them to death. Salroka was tethered to a nearby barren tree, with some food and water. Apparently the Inquisitor planned to stay here awhile. 

Then Shade brought out some field rations and a bottle of wine. She had the sweetest mischievous smile on that told Varric either her surprise was some grotesque thing or his death. Neither of which he really wanted. But he still sat beside her as the sun began to dip. 

The mountains came alive then. The sky was much like a painting, beautiful hues of orange, pink, and some red colored the snow. “It gets better. When it’s late, lights come down from the sky and touched the mountains. Sometimes it reminds me of the Breach…just you know, not shitting out demons.” 

Varric chuckled. “So you just wanted to show me a mountain sunset? You could have done that in Skyhold you know. With the comfort of a fireplace I might add.” 

Shade rolled her eyes. “No I couldn’t. Skyhold is beautiful, but I’ve never seen the lights there before.” She shrugged. Sometimes he could see it, like now, the one everyone dumped their shit on, would sometimes just start to crumble and buckle. He was pretty sure everyone in the Inquisition saw it. 

“I can’t blame you wanting to take a break after Adamant.” Varric still felt a bit sore about it. “Speaking of which how you holding up?” 

She sighed loudly, a white puff of air leaving her mouth. “Sometimes I close my eyes and still see that fucking Nightmare and that spirit.” Varric put a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m pretty sure everyone would have that problem.” 

She snorted. “I suppose. They all seem to be dealing with it well enough though.” 

“Have you seen Sparkler? He’s been scouring the library for some weird book in a half-drunk state. Bull made you hit him with a _stick_. No one’s dealing with this, Jewel.” 

Shade smiled finally before Varric retracted his hand and they just watched the sunset. “I’m sorry about Hawke…” She said after a moment of silence. She was playing with one of her skirt’s straps to avoid looking at Varric. He sighed. 

“It’s not your fault, Jewel, you know that.” 

“But it is. Every causality we have, it’s all on me. Because maybe I didn’t look at all the options or wasn’t fast enough or strong enough or used muscle when tact was required or I waited too long.” Shade spoke fast, letting all her fears come out. “Every soldier that doesn’t go home is on me as the Inquisitor.” 

Her eyes shone in the firelight. Stress had finally broken down her happy façade, leaving the scared little girl out in the open. But it was okay, she supposed. It wasn’t in front of people who would judge her, people who thought her some divine symbol. It was just Varric, the man that would drag her into games of Wicked Grace to remind everyone she was a real person. 

“Hey, all those soldiers give their lives willingly; they know the risks.” Varric put a hand on her shoulder again, if only to ground her. She had a tendency to get stuck inside her own head. 

“Hawke wasn’t one of my soldiers. I shouldn’t have asked her—“ 

“You didn’t ask her, Jewel. Felicity wanted to help end Corypheus, and she chose to let Stroud rebuild the Wardens. It was her choice.” A very stupid choice, but her choice nonetheless. Cadash looked at him for a moment before dropping her head again. 

“She told me to take care of you. Well that and there was something about it always being spiders…” Varric snickered. That was definitely Hawke. Varric took his hand off her shoulder and laid back on his elbows. 

“So why did you drag me out here, really? Just to talk?” He got the feeling he was right, no matter what she said about the sunset and lights. 

“Pretty much, yeah.” Shade shrugged, looking up at the stars just beginning to shine. “Can’t do much talking in Skyhold.” 

“Not without at least twelve Orlesian nobles and Leliana overhearing it anyway.” 

“Exactly. Plus I just want to be Shade for a while. Not Inquisitor.” Cadash threw another log on the fire. 

“Whatever you say, Not-Inquisitor.” Varric joked earning him an icy glare. 

“Ass.” 

He laughed for the first time in days, “I’m just doing as you asked.” They fell into silence for several minutes before Varric decided that now would be a good time to do some overdue questioning. For story purposes. “So who was Shade Cadash before Inquisitor Cadash?” 

Shade turned towards him with her pierced eyebrow raised. “Why? You aren’t going to put it in some book are you? I’m dreadfully dull.” 

He scoffed, “A member of the Carta? Dull? I highly doubt that.” She chuckled. 

“Honestly, I didn’t do much for the Carta, at least not after my older brother went off to the Legion of the Dead.” She shrugged before scratching the back of her head. She didn’t really think her life was very interesting. After all it seemed like it was all planned out for her. 

“There’s not much to tell. I’m the second eldest child of Dreven and Signi Cadash, and heir to the Cadash family.” 

“Whoa, wait, heir? As in you’re going to inherit an entire crime faction?” Varric couldn’t help but smile in disbelief. Dull his ass. Shade gave a non-committing gesture like it wasn’t a big deal to her. 

“So? Heirs inherit lots of stuff. Debts, houses, a thousand ivory nugs, money, clothes. I just happen to inherit a branch of the Carta…so long as no one you know usurps my parents…or assassinates them, or me for that matter.” 

“It’s not every day you meet a Carta heiress.” He joked. 

“I suppose not. But it’s not every day that you meet a handsome storyteller with a beautiful crossbow either, so we’re even.” Cadash fired back. “Sides, it’s not new to me. I was about…thirteen when I was named heir. I started to learn business things, managing accounts, creating contracts, enforcing contracts, dealing with rival operations, what have you. Granted I still did jobs for the Carta till I was twenty…two? Twenty-one?” 

“Jobs like smuggling lyrium?” He probed. She gave him a sidelong look with a wicked grin. 

“Classified.” Of course it is, Varric thought with a frown. Damn Carta oath of secrecy. “Got my nickname, in that time though. And these scars. That’s mainly why my parents decided to take me out of that kind of work. Couldn’t have their heir dying.” 

“Don’t suppose you’d tell me that story now?” He had to try. He knew how it felt when people asked about Bianca. Only his reason was entirely legitimate. Her reason seemed to be pure spitefulness. 

“All you need to know is Shade isn’t my name.” Well he knew that already. When they had first met, she introduced herself as Cadash, tacking on an ‘everyone calls me Shade though’. It was pretty obvious Shade wasn’t her real name. The million sovereign question was why was that her nickname? Because she was sneaky like a shadow? Or something else? 

“Oh come on, you can’t just say something cryptic like that. I’ve got a story to write.” Varric mock-begged. “Readers will want to know eventually.” 

Cadash snickered. “Maybe someday, Varric, I’ll tell you. But for now, I’m going to let your imagination run wild.” 

“Cruel woman.” He glared half-heartedly. “At least tell me your real name.” 

“Why? It’s not that important.” She eyed him suspiciously again. 

“I won’t use it in the story, promise. Just trying to make you seem real again.” After all, all she was was a bunch of titles apparently (Cadash not included). Inquisitor, Shade, Herald, they were all just an icon, a title. 

Shade thought about it for a moment, staring at him intently. She was wondering if it was wise for her to tell him. No one but her parents and five siblings knew her name. Not even her dead fiancé knew her name. It was safer that way. Both practically and personally. Having everyone at an arm’s distance was better, easier, when at any moment someone could turn on you. 

But this was Varric. She supposed he wouldn’t gossip…much about her. Still her name was a little embarrassing. “It’s embarrassing is what it is.” She muttered, wrapping her arms around her knees. 

“Oh come on, what was that guy’s name that helped the Warden? Flinn? Finn? Gah, I can’t remember. But nothing could beat that guy’s name in embarrassment.” Varric chuckled. 

“Fine, but you’ll tell no one. Not. One. Soul.” She narrowed her eyes accusingly. 

“Varric Tethras, Paragon of Trustworthiness at your service.” 

“Arabella.” She said very quickly, very quietly. But Varric still heard it. 

Out of all the names in the world, that would have been his last guess. For a moment, he was just shocked. What were the odds that the Herald of Andraste would have a name that meant answered prayer? It was like she was born into this world with that sole purpose. Kind of freaky really. 

“That’s not a bad name.” He laughed. Varric had said they needed a miracle. And it looked like they got one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll work on this between my other main fics, so there be long pauses between chapters.


End file.
